Asus Transformer Mini review: A portable 10.1in Windows 10 laptop that takes on the Surface 3

Asus Transformer Mini review: Display

Despite being newer than the Surface 3, the Transformer Mini’s IPS screen has a surprisingly low resolution of 1,200 x 800 – a little surprising for a 2016 device. Nevertheless, the display has an acceptable resolution given its small 10.1in screen size.

Unfortunately, it isn’t the best example. Its contrast ratio is an acceptable but not exceptional 782:1 and its coverage of the sRGB colour space isn’t great at 73.7%. In contrast, the Surface 3 has an 888:1 contrast ratio and an sRGB coverage of 97.6%.

On the plus side, the display is very bright, hitting 481cd/m2 at peak brightness, which means you can use it comfortably in bright conditions. Just bear in mind that the glossy panel is pretty reflective, so you’ll still need to find a shady spot.

Asus Transformer Mini review: Performance and battery life

Inside, the Transformer Mini packs a 1.4GHz quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics. Storage in our review unit was a decent 128GB eMMC, while an additional 128GB can be added through its microSD card expansion slot, and with 4GB of RAM backing it all up, there’s just enough memory for basic multitasking.

Alas, if you’re looking for a fast, responsive and high-performance machine, the Asus Transformer Mini is far from that. It does an adequate job for basic tasks, but if you’re going to be running Google Chrome with 20 tabs open, you’ll find yourself frustrated at the lag.

Subjected to our set of synthetic benchmarks, the Transformer Mini proved to be one of the slowest devices we’ve tested. With an overall score of 12, it lags behind even the year-and-a-half-old Microsoft Surface 3, which had a 1.6GHz Intel Atom X7-Z8700 and scored 30. No matter what benchmark was thrown at it, the Transformer Mini struggled.

On the plus side, the Transformer Mini is completely fanless, so it will always remain silent, even through intensive processing tasks. And it also has outstanding battery life. It lasted 11hrs 19mins in our video playback test, an unbelievable performance for a computer that packs such a small 30Wh battery.

In comparison, the Lenovo Yoga Book lasted 7hrs 22mins, while its bigger brother, the Asus Transformer 3 Pro only managed 4hrs 20mins. It’s nice to see a computer that can realistically last you the whole day without needing a charge.

Asus Transformer Mini review: Verdict

The Asus Transformer Mini is aimed at those who want an extra portable Windows 10 2-in-1 laptop that doesn’t break the bank. However, in the £600 bracket there is plenty of competition, much of it more capable.

The Microsoft Surface 3 is getting on a bit these days, but with the keyboard added it’s available for £50 less and it remains a far nicer device to use. Move up in size to 12in and you’ll be paying only £649 for the HP Elite x2 1012, which is a far more capable machine with an Intel Core m3 processor, a 1,920 x 1,020 display and a more usable keyboard.

Great battery life is one thing the Transformer Mini offers that the competition can’t match, and if you don’t mind dropping down to the 64GB of storage, the price becomes a lot more palatable, falling to £349, and making it much easier to recommend for those who are looking to do light work on the move. If storage is a real concern, you can always expand it via the microSD card slot, and adding an additional 64GB would only cost an additional £17.